Safety harnesses

ABSTRACT

A HALF BUCKLE FOR A SAFETY BELT HAVING A FRAME WITH AN ABUTMENT AT ONE SIDE, A MEMBER SLIDABLE IN THE FRAME AND HAVING A SLOT GENERALY PARALLEL TO THE ABUTMENT. A BELT IS LOOPED AROUND THE PORTION OF THE SLIDABLE MEMBER ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE SLOT FROM THE ABUTMENT AND, WHEN TENSION IS APPLIED TO THE BELT, IS TRAPPED AGAINST THE ABUTMENT.

March 6, 1973 .c. R. DARTOIS SAFETY HARNESSES Filed June 9, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 //VV[/V7d? CLEMENT RAHM N DARTOI AUQQVf/S Filed June 9, 1969 3 Sheets-Sheet I5 FlGl4 United States Patent US. CI. 24-75 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A half buckle for a safety belt having a frame With an abutment at one side, a member slidable in the frame and having a slot generally parallel to the abutment. A belt is looped around the portion of the slidable member on the other side of the slot from the abutment and, when tension is applied to the belt, is trapped against the abutment.

This invention relates to safety harnesses and the like. The invention has particular but not exclusive applciation to the safety harness set forth in my British patent specification 1,085,793.

One known kind of adjustable buckle member, used in safety harnesses, has a frame with an abutment, for example a cylindrical member, along one side, and a .further cylindrical or other member which can slide within the frame and is parallel to the said abutment. The belt is looped around the slidable member and in use is trapped between it and the abutment owing to the tension in the belt itself. The slidable member can be manually pulled away from the abutment to release the belt and enable it to be adjusted. In existing arrangements, the slidable member has forked ends which fit around the edges of the frame to guide the member, and/or may have portions or operating knobs which project through the sides of the frame and can be manually moved to release the belt. In practice, these designs have been found to be rather difficult to operate since they do not provide an adequate means of applying force to the slidable member to release it.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a buckle of similar general type, which will be more convenient in use. The buckle is intended primarily for safety harnesses, but is also applicable to other situations where ready adjustability and firm clamping of a belt or web are required.

According to the first aspect of the present invention an adjustable half buckle comprises, in combination, a main frame having at one side an abutment, and a member slidable in the frame in a direction generally perpendicular to the abutment, the said slidable member having a frame delimiting a slot generally parallel to the abutment whereby a belt looped around the portion of the frame of the said sliable member on the other side of the slot away from the abutment is .trapped against the abutment when tension is applied to the belt.

The arrangement described in specification 1,085,793 has a two-part main buckle, which is releasable, and attached to each part of this is a secondary buckle, the whole forming end points of four belt portions. Each secondary buckle can pivot, about an axis perpendicular to the length of the associated belt and lying in the plane of that belt, in a member which is pivoted on the associated main buckle portion about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the belt associated with the main buckle portion. According to a further aspect of the present invention, I propose to interchange the positions of these two axes. That is to say, the said member will be pivotable on the main buckle portion about an axis generally parallel to the length of the belt associated with the main buckle portion, and the secondary buckle will be pivotable on the said member about an axis perpendicular to the plane of a the belt associated with the secondary buckle. This provides a more compact construction and one which accords more readily with the regulations governing the construction of safety belts for vehicles.

According to a further aspect of the invention, the quick-release mechanism of the main buckle described in specification 1,085,793 incorporates a permanent magnet to hold the release flap in its closed position.

Further features of the present: invention will appear from the following description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front view of a buckle assembly for a safety harness, similar to that of specification 1,085,793 but incorporating a magnet for holding the main buckle closed, and having the presently proposed arrangement for adjustment of the belts.

FIGS. 2a, 2b, and 2c respectively show a plane view, end view, and side view of show a slide member of the adjustable buckles.

FIG. 3 shows in side elevation one portion of the main buckle, FIG. 3a is a section through A-A of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 shows an alternative method of attaching a secondary buckle to a main buckle portion;

FIG. 5 is a cross-section along a longitudinal axis of the main buckle showing a slide member inserted therein; and

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a buckle portion and a slide member.

Buckle assembly shown in FIG. 1 is similar in layout to that of British patent specification 1,085,793. It comprises main buckle portions 1 and 2 connected by re spective hinge members 3 and 4 to respective secondary buckles 5 and 6. Each of the buckle portions 1 and 2 and buckles 5 and 6 is in use attached to a belt, to form a safety harness. The portions 1 and 2 are releasably secured together. A main buckle member (not visible) is pivoted on pin 7 in buckle portion 2 and has a hooked end 8 which engages behind the pivoted end of a release flap 9 which itself is pivoted on pin 10 in buckle portion 1. First, when flap 9 lies fiat on the buckle portion 2, the buckle portions are connected by hook 8. When flap 9 is lifted, it disengages book 8 from its hinged part and hereby releases the buckle portions. To hold the flap 9 in its closed position, a permanent magnet 11 is attached to either the flap or the hooked member to cooperate with the hooked member or the flap, as the case may be, which is made of or carries a theromagnetic material. Inadvertent release of the buckle is thereby rendered more difficult.

Each of the buckle portions 1 and 2 and the buckles 5 and 6 is constructed so that its position along the associated belt can be adjusted. The arrangements for adjustment are substantially the same in each case, and will be described with reference to one of the main buckle portions, in connection with FIGS. 1, 2 and 3. The main buckle portion is a generally rectangular frame having along the side adjacent to the associated belt an abutment 12. Along each of the adjacent sides is a groove 13.

In these grooves can slide a generally rectangular member 14 (FIGS. 2, 5 and 6). Perpendicular to the edges 15 of member 14 which engage the grooves 13 is a slot 16 of dimensions sufficient to accommodate the belt. Along that side of the slot which, when the member is fully inserted in the associated buckle, will lie furthest from the abutment 12, is a bar 17. In the fully inserted position, the other edge of the slot substantially coincides with the inner edge of the abutment 12. Consequently, in the said position, a belt can be passed behind the abutment 12, through the slot 16, round the bar 17, and back past abutment 12 parallel to itself. When tension is subsequently applied to the belt, the member 14 will be pulled so that the bar 17 moves towards the abutment 12 and the belt will be trapped between these. The bar and abutment may have rounded or chamfered surface: to receive the belt.

To release the belt, the edge 18 of the member 14, remote from the bar 17, is pressed to move the member towards its fully inserted position, thereby freeing the belt from between the bar 17 and abutment 12. It will be seen that the whole width of the member 14 is available for the application of manual pressure to release the belt, thereby facilitating this operation. Furthermore, the substantial length of the cooperating sliding surfaces of the member 14 and the grooves 13 ensures that the member 14 moves smoothly and accurately and does not tend to become twisted relative to the buckle, which might cause jamming of the member in the buckle. This last risk is appreciable in existing designs wherein the locking member consists substantially only of a bumper sliding in the buckle.

In FIG. 1, the hinge members 3 and 4 are pivoted about axes 19 perpendicular to the planes of the main buckle portions, and the secondary buckles are pivoted in the hinge members about their edge parts, in other words about axes perpendicular to the longitudinal directions of the associated belts and lying in the planes of the secondary buckles. To satisfy safety requirements, I propose to interchange these axes as shown in FIG. 4. Here, the hinge member 4 is pivoted to the main buckle portion 3 by a pin 20 parallel to the side of the main buckle portion, in other words parallel to the longitudinal direction of the associated belt, the pin being mounted in two lugs 21 of the main buckle portion. The secondary buckle is pivoted in the hinge member 4 by a pin 22 perpendicular to pin 21 and to the plane of the secondary buckle. This enables the axis of pin 20 to be brought within the dimensions permitted by safety regulations.

I prefer to make some or all of the buckles or buckle assemblies described of cast aluminium. The various pivots may be integral or they may be separate pins, for example of steel.

The sliding members 14 are preferably identical for each buckle in a buckle assembly. It is to be emphasized, however, that this form of adjustable buckle can be used by itself, and is not necessarily used in an assembly as described. The sides of the buckle frames can be made of extruded metal with the grooves formed therein by the extrusion process. In this case, it will be necessary to provide stops in the grooves, for example steel pins. Alternatively, the sliding member may have suitable protrusions on it to engage portions of the buckle frame, for example the pivot pins or the abutment.

I claim:

1. An assembly of adjustable buckles comprising a two-part releasable main buckle and a secondary buckle being pivotable about a member pivoted on each main buckle part, said secondary buckle being pivotable about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the belt associated with it and said member being pivotable about an axis generally parallel to the length of the belt associated with the main buckle part.

2. As assembly of adjustable buckles as claimed in claim 1 in which said two-part releasable main buckle consists of two half-buckles, each. comprising a. frame having at one side an abutment, and a second member slidable in the frame in a direction generally perpendicular to the abutment and having a slot generally parallel ,to the abutment to receive a belt looped around the portion of the slidable member which lies on the side of the slot away from the abutment, whereby the belt is trapped against the abutment when tension is applied to the belt.

3. An assembly of adjustable buckles as claimed in claim 2 in which the member slidable in the frame includes an actuating portion on the side of the slot towards the abutment adapted to release the belt when pressure is applied to said actuating portion. 7

4. An assembly of adjustable buckles as claimed in claim 2 wherein the sides of the frame adjacent to the abutment are provided with grooves to provide cooperating sliding surfaces for the member slidable in the frame to prevent twisting of the said slidable member in the frame.

5. An assembly of adjustable buckles as claimed in claim 2 in which one of the adjustable half-buckles has an element interengageable with an element of the other half-buckle to form a quickly releasable mechanism for releasably connecting the two half-buckles, the said interengageable element incorporating a permanent magnet to hold the elements of the said quickly releasable mechanism together in the closed position.

6. An assembly of adjustable buckles as claimed in claim 1 wherein the two-part releasable main buckle, to one part of which a belt can be attached, has perpendicular thereto a tab containing a slot, which tab can be inserted through a slot in the other part of the main buckle, the said other part being provided with a release member arranged to actuate a tongue to engage the slot of the first mentioned main buckle part to hold the two parts of the main buckle together.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,481,025 1/1924 Prentice 24-196 2,143,126 1/1939 Honegger 24196 3,163,905 1/1965 Gaylord 24-75 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,050,103 2/ 1959' Germany 24201.2 139,026 2/ 1920 Great Britain 24-196 960,115 6/ 1964 Great Britain 24-2012 1,085,793 10/ 1967 Great Britain 24 BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 24201, 203

- Patent No. 3,718,948

. UNITED STATES l ATEiiT OFF I CE' 4 C RTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Dated March 6, 1 973 lnvent'ofls) Clement Rahmln Dartols w It is certified that error appears in the aboire-identifiedpatent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Sheet 3 of the drawings sho ild appear asshown on the.

attech ei sheets:

Signed Ian d sealed is l9ph daynf "Ndvember 1974.

J( s'EAL) Attest:

. McCOY ;M GIBSON JR. c. MARSHALL DANN Attesting O f ficer v Commissioner of Patients USCOMM-DC 603764 69 U.5 GOVERNMENT HUNTING OFFICE i 5 93 o Page 2 Q/IZ I Inventor ELEMEHTRAHMHI DARTGES 

